To Break a Wolf

Chapter 34: The Chase

Her heart was beating so loudly it drowned out everything else.

He stood at the edge of the clearing, naked and wild-eyed, the moonlight painting his bare skin in silver. Mira’s breath caught. She’d seen him naked before, technically, but not like this. Not when everything inside her was already sparking with live wires. She tried to look away, she truly did. But the sight of him, raw, unfiltered, so real, made her pulse thunder.

Oh god, he was beautiful.

The moment Bastian said “run,” something inside her snapped loose. Instinct beat out fear. Her breath caught, prickling her skin, and then, she bolted.

Through the trees, the wind on her cheeks, the moon lighting her path. She didn’t think, didn’t plan, she just moved, and behind her? She heard what was coming after her. A snarl. A crash. The sound of a massive beast crashing through the forest with one purpose on its mind: Her.

Her mind stuttered. Was he going to—No.

Her stomach flipped, nausea twisting with panic. Was Bastian going to shift back? Or—

She didn’t let the thought finish. The image was too much. Too wild. Too wrong. It slammed her back into the moment like a slap. This wasn’t a game. This wasn’t some fantasy. She had to move.

Every cell in her body thrummed with adrenaline, anticipation, and heat. She wasn’t running to escape. She was running to ignite the frenzy. Somehow knowing that it was what the wolf needed—a straight-out chase.

The forest blurred as she leapt over fallen branches and dodged trees, her breath coming in quick gasps. Her thighs and calves burned, her blood sang, and then suddenly, he was there.

A blur of movement to her right, too fast, too strong. She dodged left. Veered off the path. Her foot caught a root, she stumbled, rolled, and came up with dirt in her palm and fire in her veins.

She barely had time to straighten when he crashed into her from behind. They tumbled together, heat and muscle and growling, instinct and moonlight and need. She twisted in his grasp, kicking out. He grunted, surprised, and she broke free, darting toward the river.

She didn’t get far. This time, when Bastian grabbed her, it was more challenging to break free, a finality in his grasp, but Mira didn’t go down easily. She slammed her shoulder into his chest and dropped her center of gravity, trying to sweep his legs, just like Selene had taught her.

Bastian grunted and recovered fast, catching her around the waist and lifting her clean off the ground. She growled and twisted, elbowing him in the ribs before shoving off his chest and tumbling free again.

She grinned breathlessly as she spun back to face him.

“What, didn’t think I would pick up anything from Selene?”

His eyes flashed gold, his mouth curving into a dark, feral grin. “You’ve been training to fight me?”

“To survive you,” she corrected, circling.

His laugh was rough. “Then you should know better than to turn your back.”

He lunged. Mira sidestepped, almost.

His arms locked around her waist again, and this time, he went with the momentum, slamming them both to the ground. Her back hit the mossy forest floor, her breath rushing from her lungs as his weight pinned her down.

“Got you,” he growled with a ragged edge.

Mira fought him anyway. Writhing. Twisting. Her leg came up, but he caught it. She snarled and went for his shoulder, but he blocked her easily now.

His hands caught both of hers, pinning them above her head. His hips pressed into hers, caging her with the full weight of his body. She was breathing hard as was he. Their eyes locked, fire sparking between them.

“You fight dirty,” she whispered.

He leaned in, mouth at her ear. “You like it.”

She shuddered, and then he looked at her like she was his whole world, and the only thing standing between him and madness.

“You have to say it,” he said, voice shaking with restraint. “I need to hear it. The words.”

Mira blinked up at him, chest heaving.

“I, Mira Danvers,” she said softly, “accept you, Bastian Donovan, as my mate.”

A sound tore from his throat, part growl, part groan, and he dropped his forehead to hers, his entire body trembling.

“I’m going to have to bite you again,” he rasped, brushing her hair back from her neck. “To finish it. To seal the bond.”

She nodded, heart slamming in her chest. “Then do it.”

And then he kissed her, wild and deep and final, because she was his, and he was about to prove it.

His mouth trailed down her throat, full of promise and heat. Her pulse thrummed beneath his lips as his teeth scraped over her skin, a warning, a tease.

Mira arched up, pressing into him. “Stop stalling,” she gasped.

‘‘I need to mate with you as I bite you,’’ he said, breathless.

Mira’s eyes flashed wide, then challenged. “What are you waiting for?”

A ragged sound tore from his chest, and he moved with a sudden, crashing urgency. Clothes shredded under his hands as he claimed her in every way possible. He was rough and frantic, but retained enough of his human side to be gentle, careful as he finished undressing her, and settled between her legs.

With one hard push, he thrust into her, and she cried out, back arching off the forest floor. Pleasure and heat, and Bastian crashed over her in a wave, engulfing her in everything he was.

He was shaking above her, his breath ragged against her skin. He thrust again, deep and sure, and Mira gasped, clutching at him with everything she had.

She felt his teeth sink into her neck at the exact moment he drove into her again. A sharp, intense pain shot through her body, and for a second, the world went white.

Agonizing pain surged through her, causing tears to well up, and despite her efforts, she couldn’t suppress the scream: “Bastian!”

This bite was deeper than the first, more brutal and savage.

Just hold on, stay with me. His voice came softer, echoing in her mind.

It hurts! I can’t—

And then, Bastian thrust again, hard and fast. Her cry broke into a choked sob as pain turned into pleasure. The world rushed back in a burst of light and sensation, the pain flaring bright before fusing with something wild and incredible.

She could feel him everywhere. In her blood and mind, his body moved frantically against hers as the frenzy rolled them both toward the edge. He thrust into her again and again, lost in it, drowning in it, both of them shaking like they might fall apart at any second.

The bond opened wide between them. Suddenly, she could feel what he felt, all his pent-up need, his possessive desperation for her. It hit with a force that stole her breath away and left her spinning under him, caught in a storm.

Bastian kept his teeth buried in her neck, and he wasn’t letting go; his mouth sealed hard over her skin, drinking her in, consuming her. Her mind reeled, and she could feel her own pleasure feeding back to him, fusing with his as he lost control and drove into her as if he might never stop.

And then, every muscle went taut above her, a flood of heat and wildness broke through their bodies all at once, sending them both shuddering over the edge of an explosive c****x.

Mira cried out, wordless and raw, as the intensity overwhelmed her, unstoppable, unavoidable. She felt him release, too, heard the primal sounds he made into her shoulder as everything burst inside them and the world splintered apart.

The forest disappeared around them until nothing was left except Bastian inside her, gripping her hands so hard he would leave bruises, Bastian claiming every inch of her body while the bite bound their souls together. Her vision went white again as she arched up into him for more, and abruptly it was too much.

She could feel him everywhere again, all at once, and it was too much, too fast. Her body shuddered beneath him, and she turned her head instinctively, ripping his teeth free from her skin as she gasped like she was drowning.

It was more than enough.

The bite surged between them even more intensely once it was severed; wild power lighting up every nerve until she couldn’t take it anymore and finally crashed back to earth. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she sank into the moss, her muscles and mind going limp beneath the weight of him.

Bastian growled raggedly into her shoulder as he followed her down from the high, collapsing on top of her like his bones had turned to liquid. Mira lay there blind with sensation, every piece of him still inside her, outside her, around her, and wondered if this is what it felt like to be alive for the first time.

She should have been worried about how raw and exposed the bond made her feel. She should have been scared that he would see how lost and vulnerable she was to him. But right now, she was trying to remember how to breathe.

Reality finally crashed, and she caved to the intensity of his eyes, as they glowed with bright, red rims that pulsed, and she looked away, unable to meet his gaze anymore.

His weight was suddenly too much, and she couldn’t breathe beneath it. Mira squirmed and shoved at his chest, frantic to escape the overwhelming sensation.

Bastian froze and then rolled off her with a curse. Cold air rushed in, stilling her racing pulse. “I’m sorry.” His voice was hoarse, like gravel under their skin.

Mira sat up, a chill crept up as she realized just how bare she was, in every possible way. She gave a shaky laugh that didn’t match the panic clanging in her chest. “Well, that was intense.”

Bastian was staring at her like she might bolt if he breathed wrong. Tousled hair and flushed cheeks lent an unfamiliar softness to his usually austere face. Even so, there was nothing soft about the raw hunger in his eyes. Or the way he looked ready to devour her all over again.

The thought sent an illicit thrill through her veins, but the anger bubbled back up. She had given in, been pressured by him yet again, and even if her body responded in an unforgivably traitorous way, she was not the one in control. He’d gotten so much more than she ever intended for him to have.